Microplastic in the Hawkesbury (AUSMAP)

Welcome! The information on this page will help you complete the tasks required before and after your depth study or excursion with Brewongle EEC.

Brewongle is enabling students to partake in a national citizen science initiative to survey and map microplastics around Australia. Utilising the rigid AUSMAP methodology, you will collect and analyse microplastic samples from the beach at Macquarie Park in Windsor.

Before the Excursion

This fieldwork program can be part of either Investigating Science or Earth and Environmental Science. There are detailed units of work which have been written for both subjects. The unit PDFs can be downloaded below. There are hyperlinks within each of the parts which will take you to a downloadable student workbook.

Your Task: Work through Part 1 and Part 2 of the unit provided on the link below. Use the hyperlinks in the PDF to access information to assist in completing the tasks. The AUSMAP website may also be handy.

The Study Site

The short YouTube clip below will give you a sneak peek into the scientific methodology and fieldwork tools you’ll be using on the day.

Your fieldwork will be conducted at Macquarie Park, Windsor. Upstream from Windsor, the Hawkesbury River and its tributaries flow through a large number of landscapes, each influencing its quality. These range from heavily vegetated natural areas, to heavily urbanised areas with numerous sewage treatment plants releasing treated effluent into the river.

An example of microplastic pollution in a creek flowing into the Hawkesbury just upstream from our fieldwork site can be seen in this Hawkesbury Gazette article.

After the Excursion

Your Task:

Follow the Reporting procedure on page 16 of the Fieldwork Guide to ensure AUSMAP can add your data to the national database.